


Worst Day Ever

by appleblossom2



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 03:50:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2798510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appleblossom2/pseuds/appleblossom2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye feels guilty over the loss of her friend and blames herself for his death.  This story takes place directly after <i>What They Become</i> so if you have not watched that episode you may want to do that first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worst Day Ever

Worst Day Ever   
by Apple Blossom

The vibrations within her slow from the full on pulsing it had been to a constant buzz to an annoying prickle and now nothing. The earth around her shudders and heaves through the tremors, settling back down as the dirt above still spills over her head. The temple is in ruins, the discarded alien shell that encased her laying intermingled with sediment that now covers the rock floor. Skye drops to her knees, crawling over the wreckage toward where her friend used to be.

"Trip," she whispers, tears falling down her cheeks, smudging the dirt on her face as she reaches her hand out, touching the rubble around her.

The temple wall aches and groans to life, stone scraping against stone as the entrance reveals itself once more. Phil Coulson hurries around the wall and stops, amazed by the amount of destruction in the temple, his eyes scanning the debris until he sees her.

"Skye!" he cries out, stumbling over rock to get to her. He watches as one hand reaches out tentatively to touch the dark matter laying before her and Coulson hears her sobs even though she is oblivious to his presence.

"Skye?" His voice is softer now, concerned, and it isn't until he gently places his hand on her shoulder that she even turns to acknowledge his presence.

Her eyes are tainted with guilt and as she takes in his bruised and bloody face Skye begins to cry even harder.

"This is my fault," she whispers, turning back to the rubble, pushing aside the smaller shards as if she is still looking for something.

"No it's not," Coulson tells her, his hand rubbing slow circles on her back. A noise from across the room startles him and as he turns to look he sees a shadow of something scurrying out of the room.

_Raina_ , he thinks to himself but right now it doesn't matter. His only concern is Skye and as he tries to pull her to her feet she struggles hard against him.

"No," she sobs. "We can't leave him. Not like this."

"Skye, no one else is in here," Coulson says, trying once again to get her to move.

"Trip," she says, her voice stumbling over the name. "He came in... Just before the wall closed."

Coulson understands instantly. Somehow, he thinks to himself, whatever happened in this room, whatever caused the earthquake, also killed Antoine Triplett. The ground tremors again, an aftershock most likely and Coulson reaches out and finally gets Skye to her feet. "We have to go."

She struggles harder now, grief etching her features as Mack Mackenzie limps around the corner. His eyes are back to normal but Coulson sees that the man carries his own guilt over what happened while he was under the control of the alien city.

"We need to get her out of here," Coulson tells him and Mack grabs one of Skye's arms gently leading her away from the ruined temple. Together the three of them make their way back to where Melinda May is waiting.

"I have her," Coulson calls up to her. "Send down the harness."

May drops a rope down to them and waits while Coulson hooks the harness around Skye's waist. She won't look at him anymore, her face a mask of devastation and Coulson is worried. Reaching out a hand he tips her chin up and says, "Hold on, okay?"

He knows his words have double meaning but she grabs the rope in both hands and May starts the winch, pulling Skye back up to the theater. When the harness comes down again Coulson insists that Mack go next and then a few minutes later it is his turn.

"Where is she?" he asks once he arrives at the top.

"Over there," May looks toward the corner where Skye is sitting against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest. May meets Coulson's eyes and he sees the worry in them. "What happened?" 

"Radio FitzSimmons and let them know that Trip won't be coming back up through the guerite. Have them head back to the bus and we'll meet them there." 

The deeper meaning of the director's words are not lost on May and she nods sadly, relaying the message to Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. As she does yet another aftershock ripples through the abandoned theater and as it does Skye wraps her arms tighter around herself as she shivers violently in the chilly basement. 

"It's time to go," Coulson says as the earth settles once more. 

May nods and hurries over to Skye, bending down to meet her eyes. "Remember what I taught you." 

Skye nods finally and looks up, her eyes haunted by the day's events. "I can't make it stop." 

"Just concentrate on your breathing," May replies, misunderstanding Skye's words. "Breathe in... breathe out." 

Skye does as she is told, desperate to stop the quaking within that she is certain is affecting the world around her. Finally she feels the sensations subside and when May reaches for her hand, Skye grasps it like a lifeline. She sees the concern and sympathy for her on her supervising officer's face, but she's convinced that once she knows the truth, May will never look at her the same way again. For now though she can't say the words again, even though they are a constant mantra in her head. _Trip is dead. It's my fault._ Together they walk up the stairs and past dead Hydra agents. When they get outside, the sun is bright and stings her eyes, making Skye cover them with one hand as she takes in the damage she's caused. The old theater seems to have taken the brunt of the damage, being at ground zero for the earthquake and the facade has crumbled into the street, leaving the building scarred and damaged. Bricks of varying sizes and shapes lay haphazardly on the sidewalks and the people of San Juan are walking around in a state of confusion. As they continue back toward the bus Skye's thoughts switch unwillingly from the loss of her friend to meeting her father and she remembers something he'd said to her before he went off to kill Daniel Whitehall. The words play in her head and she changes them slightly to reflect her thoughts on all of this. 

_Worst. Day. Ever._

The end


End file.
